Review: Scrub Love coffee body scrub

(Press samples ahead!)

Hello!


Today I have something a little different to show you--Scrub Love coffee body scrub, an awesome exfoliant/moisturizing scrub that contains one of my very favorite things--coffee.

Okay, so I know what you're saying--this is a nail blog! You're right, I have never reviewed anything on this blog that isn't nail-related, and I'm not going to now. The moment Scrub Love approached me, I was curious to see how a coffee scrub performed compared to a sugar scrub or a mani bomb for my fingers and cuticles, as well as see how it worked on the rest of my skin. So let's take a look and see what I found out.

Scrub Love Mint Temptation coffee body scrub

Scrub Love is a body scrub made with coffee, moisturizing oils, and other all-natural ingredients designed to exfoliate and nourish your skin. The contain no artificial colors, fragrances, parabens, or preservatives. You know this blog is cruelty-free, so one of the first things I checked out was how they source their ingredients and test their products: they never test on animals, are organic, fair-trade (important when it comes to coffee), and Rainforest-Alliance approved. In case you don't know what the Rainforest Alliance is (I didn't), it's a non-government non-profit dedicated to preserving tropical forests. They vet products, farms and forests to be sure they are sustainable environmentally, socially, and economically, and are audited by the Sustainable Agriculture Network. The upshot of all of that is, I can feel good about using it, and so can you.


There are currently three scrubs to choose from, the Original Lovin', Mint Temptation, and Coconut Affair. Each has slightly different ingredients for different purposes, and are priced slightly differently (more on price later). They sent me the Mint Temptation for review:

Scrub Love Mint Temptation coffee body scrub

The back of the package explains the ingredients and what they do for your skin:

Scrub Love Mint Temptation coffee body scrub

And how to use the product:

Scrub Love Mint Temptation coffee body scrub

The package is water proof and resealable so you can keep it right in your shower. I was really curious to see what the product would look like, and it looks just how you'd expect for a product that doesn't throw in a bunch of unnecessary stuff to make it into some sort of mystical-looking potion--it looks like a bunch of wet coffee grounds:

Scrub Love Mint Temptation coffee body scrub

Scrub Love Mint Temptation coffee body scrub

How do you use it? You take about a walnut-sized handful and scrub it over your body. Here is about the density I used (apologies for the bit of steam in the picture, but yes, this is my actual arm in my actual shower):

Um...you have a little something on your arm: Density of Scrub Love I used for my tests

Once you've scrubbed it over your skin in small, gentle circles, you can either wash it off right away, or wait a few minutes. I chose to wait. Also, when I was rubbing the grounds onto my skin, I made sure to use the front of my fingers as well as the back, to get that exfoliation action on the skin around my nails, and of course, my cuticles. Then I spent a little extra time rubbing directly around my cuticles, like I would with a sugar scrub:

Scrub those cuticles: Scrub Love action on my paws

Scrub those cuticles: Scrub Love action on my paws

Here are the questions I wanted to answer:

Does it work? 

Absolutely. My skin felt invigorated--I'm not sure if that's just the coffee scrub itself, or the peppermint oil in this particular scrub, but I felt a pleasant tingling very much like the tingling you get from those plumping/cooling lip glosses. My skin was also very well moisturized, and felt smooth to the touch even a few hours later.

This was true for my hands and cuticles, as well. To give this the ultimate test, the day I took these pictures I did not use any other form of exfoliation or moisturizer, just the Scrub Love after washing with soap and water. Then I gave it a hard test--I worked, typed, even did a long outdoor work out in the sun and sea air. Came home, cooked, washed up, worked some more--and then before bed took pictures of my cuticles:

My cuticles on coffee: Scrub Love's effect after a hard day

My cuticles on coffee: Scrub Love's effect after a hard day

My hands had zero other care that day--no cuticle oil, no balm, not even any lotion, and this is what they looked like at the end of the day. Not perfect to be sure--but darned close. Maybe you're lucky enough to have cuticles like this naturally, but I am not--normally I have to use cuticle oil or balm at least once if I don't want my cuticles to look like snakes shedding their skin. For me, this is amazing.


Will I smell like I've been working in a Starbucks all day?

No. The scrub does have a coffee smell when you're using it, but Mint Temptation left me with a very soft woodsy scent. The coffee is definitely a part of that, but is no longer detectable as coffee. I tested out my husband to see what he thought of the smell without telling him what it was and he could barely detect any smell, certainly not coffee.


Will it stain my shower?

No. I made sure to wash down all the grounds when I finished, and haven't noticed a problem. I don't know that I'd recommend leaving any grounds just sitting in your nice white tub, but if you do a little swish, you should be fine.


Is it affordable?

I've been using a walnut-sized amount, and I find that covers all of my body except for my back (which I can't reach on my own) just fine. Using that amount, I should get at least 10 uses out of my pouch, possibly more. The Mint Temptation sells for $16.95 (Original Lovin' is $14.95, and Coconut Affair is $17.95), which means about $1.70 per use. That's about the same as the cheapest mani bomb I've seen (most are more), and maybe just a titch more expensive then when I use sugar scrub on my hands--except that I'm using the Scrub Love on my ENTIRE body, not just my hands, and getting the benefit from that. In theory, you could just use it for your hands, and get a ton more uses out of it, and thus a much cheaper per-use cost--but I love how this makes my body feel, so there's no way I'm going to skip that. So, if you mean is this an every-shower sort of product--no, and it's not meant to be. But as a few-times-a-week thing, I think it's in a reasonable price range.


Can you use it on your face?

Yes. But I'd do a test first if you're prone to break-out, since the moisturizers are powerful.


Does it dry out/mold once you've opened the package?

Not that I've noticed. Just reseal, and you should be fine.


EDIT: Will it clog your drain?

A reader asked me about this, and I googled it--apparently coffee scrubs can clog your drains. I've been using this for almost 3 weeks with no problem, but that doesn't mean it isn't building up. The best suggestion I've found that I like is to buy one of those mesh strainers for your drain--I'm going to pick one up the next time I go by Home Depot. :)


So would I recommend Scrub Love, and would I buy this again with my own money? Yes, and yes. I will be placing an order for another pouch of the Mint Temptation, and I want to try the Coconut Affair as well. I love how this product makes me feel while I'm using it and after I'm using it, and I think it's a wonderful treat for anyone looking for a little bit of pampering now and then in their routine. You can also find Scrub Love on Facebook and Instagram.


Happy Scrubbing!
M.